Advertising Tech (Adtech) – Thematic Research

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Adtech Market Overview

The internet advertising market size was valued at $438 billion in 2021 and will grow at a CAGR of more than 9% during 2021-2030. Advertising technology or Adtech is the backbone of the internet advertising industry. It covers all software and services used to deliver and target digital advertisements. Adtech’s emergence over the past 25 years has been driven by the rise in the number of internet users, the emergence of mobile, social media, ecommerce, and streaming platforms, and the growing sophistication of analytics tools. However, it is under scrutiny from data privacy regulators for its role in mishandling users’ data.

In competitive terms, the Adtech industry is primarily a face-off between tech giants like Google, Meta, Amazon, and Alibaba and pure play vendors like The Trade Desk, MediaMath, and Amobee.

Overview of the Adtech industry

Overview of the Adtech industry

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What are the market dynamics in the Adtech industry?

Adtech comprises diverse software platforms that facilitate the buying, selling, delivery, verification, measurement, and management of digital ads. It also enables coordination between advertisers (i.e., brands) and publishers and allows brands to run ad campaigns by targeting high-value audiences. Publishers can sell ad inventories at the best possible price with the help of Adtech. This technology uses internet-based services (e.g., webpages, social media, and mobile apps) to personalize ads for each user based on their preferences and online activities. It covers the entire ad campaign process, from identifying and targeting the right audience to managing channels and selling ads to publishers. Subsequently, Adtech companies help brands measure the effectiveness of their ads and understand the customers’ interests.

What are the key categories in the internet advertising market?

The key categories in the internet advertising market are search ads, banner ads, video ads, classified ads, and audio ads. Search ads and banner ads are the dominant categories in the market while classified ads and audio ads are niche aspects.

Search ads

This category includes online ads that appear on users’ web pages through search engine queries. Search ads target users based on the keywords they have entered into search engines. This is also known as paid search advertising. Google Search and Microsoft Search are the biggest platforms for search ads. 

Banner ads

These are display ads that appear in rectangular or square-shaped graphics along the top, bottom, or sides of a website or mobile app. Banner ads are typically image-based, designed to attract attention, and thus are widely used by advertisers and publishers. 

Video ads

This category of ads can be delivered either before, during, or after any streaming content. OTT platforms, social media networks, and mobile app (especially games) developers are the key adopters of video ads. 

Classified ads

These ads are typically small and location-specific, intended for specific purposes such as selling a property or leasing a vehicle. Craigslist.org, Backpage.com, Gumtree.com, and Facebook Marketplace are some of the best-known sources of classified ads on the internet. 

Audio ads

Ads delivered in audio format via a radio, smart speaker, music streaming service, or podcast. Popular music streaming services like Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pandora feature audio ads on their platforms.

Adtech industry, by category

Adtech industry, by category

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What are the key trends in the Adtech industry?

The key trends shaping the Adtech theme are technology trends, macroeconomic trends, and regulatory trends. The technology trends include first-party data, third-party cookies, iOS app tracking transparency (ATT), android advertising ID, AI, ad fraud, internet of things (IoT), native advertising, shoppable ads, augmented reality (AR), and ad blockers. Walled garden is a closed platform which impacts macroeconomic trends in the Adtech industry besides COVID-19. Data privacy and misinformation impacts regulatory trends.

Who are the major companies in the Adtech industry?

The major companies making their mark within the Adtech industry are Adobe, Alibaba, Alphabet (parent company of Google), Amazon, Basis Technologies, ByteDance, Criteo, MediaMath, Meta, Microsoft, Singtel (parent company of Amobee), and The Trade Desk. Google dominated the global internet advertising market with a 40% revenue share followed by Meta.

Adtech industry, by major companies

Adtech industry, by major companies

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Market report scope

Market size (2021) $438 billion
Growth rate CAGR of >9%
Forecast period 2021-2030
Segmentation by categories Search Ads, Banner Ads, Video Ads, Classified Ads, and Audio Ads
Key trends Technology Trends, Macroeconomic Trends, and Regulatory Trends
Key companies Adobe, Alibaba, Alphabet (parent company of Google), Amazon, Basis Technologies, ByteDance, Criteo, MediaMath, Meta, Microsoft, Singtel (parent company of Amobee), and The Trade Desk

This report provides:

  • Overview of the Adtech theme.
  • Key trends impacting growth of the theme over the next 12 to 24 months split into three categories: technology trends, macroeconomic trends, and regulatory trends.
  • Comprehensive industry analysis, including forecasts for the global internet advertising market to 2030.
  • Details of M&A deals driven by the Adtech theme, and a timeline highlighting milestones in the development of Adtech.
  • Detailed value chain which comprises three distinct segments: demand-side, intermediaries, and supply-side.

Key Highlights

Adtech vendors have been forced to rethink their strategies due to the emergence of legislation such as the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). They must adopt privacy-first approaches and ensure that user data is not shared among partners. In addition, the withdrawal of third-party cookies from web browsers and privacy-related changes to Apple’s Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) and Google’s Android Advertising ID (AAID) are threatening longstanding ad targeting practices. As a result, data collection methods are changing, with adtech vendors focusing on first-party data and adopting consent-driven personalization. Data management platforms that operate on third-party data will face an existential threat in the post-cookie world as the industry moves towards first-party data.

In competitive terms, the adtech industry is primarily a face-off between tech giants like Google, Meta, Amazon, and Alibaba and pure play vendors like The Trade Desk, MediaMath, and Amobee. The tech giants dominate the market with their massive user bases and sophisticated adtech walled gardens. Several pure play vendors will become acquisition targets for Big Tech vendors over the next three years.

Reasons to Buy

  • This report provides an invaluable guide to this important theme, including details of the leading players and up-to-date market forecasts.

ABS-CBN
ActionIQ
Adform
Adobe
Adsterra
Alibaba
Alphabet (Google)
Amazon
Ambire AdEx
AppBrain
Appier
Apple
AppLovin
Appnext
Arkose Labs
AT&T
Axel Springer
Baidu
Basis Technologies
Bertelsmann
Bloomberg
Bloomreach
BlueConic
Blueshift
Brandtech Group
ByteDance
CHEQ
China Daily
China Trading Desk
Choozle
Cloudera
Comcast
Comscore
Confiant
Cox Enterprises
Cramer-Krasselt
Criteo
Dentsu
Digital Turbine
Discovery
Disney
DMGT
Doubleverify
E. W. Scripps
Fox Corporation
Gannett
Grupo Televisa
Hearst
Hivestack
Huawei
HubSpot
Imperva
Index Exchange
Informa
InMobi
Insider
Integral Ad Science
Interceptd
IPG
IronSource
ITV
Jiangsu Phoenix
Kochava
LG Uplus
Listrak
LiveRamp
Lotame
Lytics
Magnite
MediaMath
Meredith
Meta
Microsoft
Mintegral
mParticle
Neustar
News Corp
Nexstar
NHK General
Nielsen
Nine Network
Omnicom
OpenX
Oracle
Permutive
Pixalate
ProSiebenSat.1
Publicis
PubMatic
Redpoint
S4 Capital
Salesforce
Samsung Electronics
SAP
Scott Trust
Segment
SemRush
SensorTower
Sinclair
Singtel (Amobee)
Smaato
SmartyAds
Snap
Snowflake
Sun TV
Synovite
Tealium
Tegna
Telefónica (Axonix)
Tencent
The New York Times
The Trade Desk
The Washington Post
Thomson Reuters
Thrive Plus
Treasure Data
TripleLift
Twitter
Unity
Upland Software
Verizon
ViacomCBS
Viant (Adelphic)
Vivendi (Havas)
Vungle
Wieden+Kennedy
Wiley
Wolters Kluwer
WPP
Yahoo
Yandex
Zee TV

Table of Contents

Executive Summary

Players

Technology Briefing

  • What is adtech?
  • Why is adtech important?
  • How does adtech work?
  • Programmatic advertising
  • Ad targeting

Trends

  • Technology trends
  • Macroeconomic trends
  • Regulatory trends

Industry Analysis

  • Market size and growth forecasts
  • Competitive analysis
  • Mergers and acquisitions
  • Patent trends
  • Company filing trends
  • Timeline

Value Chain

  • Demand-side
  • Brands
  • Agency trading desks
  • Demand-side platforms
  • Intermediaries
  • Ad networks
  • Data platforms
  • Ad exchanges
  • Ad verification vendors
  • Supply-side
  • Supply-side platforms
  • Publishers

Companies

Advertising Sector Scorecard

  • Who’s who
  • Thematic screen
  • Valuation screen
  • Risk screen

Our Thematic Research Methodology

About GlobalData

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Contact Us

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